Railway crossing guard



l. June 7, 1932. F, p MlLLER 1,862,276

RAILWAY CROS S ING GUARD June 7, 1932.. F. P. MILLER 1,862,276

RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD Filed April 15, 1929 5 sheets-sheet 2 WMA.

June 7, 1932. F. P. MILLER RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD Filed April 15.' 1929 3 Sheets-s119612 3 Patented June 7, 1932 PATE erica FRANK P.. MILLER, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD Application filed Aprii 15,

The present improvements'relate more particularly to an automatically operated railway crossing guard in which gates are automatically lowered by mechanism set in motion by a train approaching that crossing, and automatically raised .when the train has passed and has proceeded its way a suitable distance down the track, in combinationy with means for indicatingpto the engineer or operator of the train that the gates are closed beforethe train approaches the crossing and that the gatesy are opened when the train has passed the crossing.

Among the advantages of the present in- '5 vention may be set forth the simplicity of the device from the standpoint of installation and maintenance,l its absolute certainty and accuracy in operation, the economy in the use of an automatically operated railway crossing guard and the elimination of the necessity of manual manipulation.

Locomotive engines, both steam and electric, as wellas other types of driving elements of the present day are equipped with electric generators for lighting the train and for other purposes.

In locomotive engines of the steam type, these generators are functioned under the control of a manually operable valve by steam 3G generated therein. l l

I propose to connect a duplex contacting element to a suitable part of the locomotive, takingV current through a lead wire from said i, generator.. A predetermined distance from aV grade crossing, forl instance, a mile, more or less,.a third or auxiliary rail may be laid down with which one leg of the duplex shoe makes contact, preferably the lower leg.

This auxiliary or third rail at a point adjacent the crossing is connected in circuit ,with a motor functioning to automatically lower thegates andwith magnetic coils functioning when energized to operatea clutch mechanism to keep the gates in lowered position.

" T he operation of the magnetic coils is. fully described. in my issued Patent No. 1,692,184.

As an additional feature of this invention an indicator is connected inl the above described circuit which informs the engineer 5u or operator'that the circuit is complete, that` 1929. Serial No. 355,047.

is, that the gate motors are functioning, and further a permanent record is automatically made of the date, and time of day Aat which the operation takes place. n

Astill further important feature ofthe invention is to continue the third rail on the opposite side of the crossing for a suitable distance, depending upon the class of service which passes over the particular portion of the road, that is, freight or passenger service, it being obvious that with freight service the rail would continue further from the crossing so as to allow the caboose of the train to pass the crossing before the gates rise.

AsV an additional important object of the invention, means are provided for informing the engineer that the gates are open when the train has proceeded a suitable distance from the crossing, more particularly, a *secondl i auxiliary third rail is provided beyond the end of the first auxiliary rail, and adapted tomake contact with the other leg of the duplex shoe carried by the locomotive, completing another circuit inI which a second portion of the aforementioned indicator is con,- nected. The closing of this circuit in addition to informing the engineer thatthe gates have opened, records the date, and time of day, of the opening and closing operation.

Another important feature of the present invention is the provision of an auxiliary shoe, connected in parallel with the lower leg of the aforementioned shoe, and positionedl preferablyupon the rear of the tender, the obj ect of which is to continue the gates closed circuit when the duplex shoe leaves the first section of the first auxiliary rail, as it is obvious that the third rail must be broken at the crossing. The spany of the locomotive and tender, that is, the distance between the two shoes will usually be greater than the width of the ordinary highway crossing, and hence, one of the two shoes will always be in contact with the third rail. l

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the drawings and following description.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevationalr view illustrating the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic View of the electrical circuits.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the gate posts.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view of the dupleX shoe.

Fig. 6 is a vertical elevation of the recording device, parts being broken away and other parts being shown in section.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates generally a locomotive equipped with a generator 2. It is to be understood that although I have shown a locomotive of the coal or oil burning type, the invention is for use with movers operated entirely electrically or with cars which themselves are equipped with motors and control devices.

These movers 1 are adapted to ride over conventional rails 3 mounted on cross-ties 4. Positioned adjacent the rails 3 and preferl ably at one side there-of is an auxiliary rail 5. This rail will hereinafter be designated the low third rail.

A duplex contacting element or shoe 6 is mounted upon the mover 1, preferably at the forward portion thereof, as shown best in Fig. 1. The duplex shoe 6, as shown in detail in Fig. 5, comprises a body 7 rotatably mounted upon a pin 8 which in turn is fixedly mounted upon bracket 9, the upper portion of which is provided with a plurality of boltholes 10, whereby the bracket may be mounted upon the mover 1. At each end of the body 7 is a contacting roller or the like 11 and 12, being the upper and lower roller respectively. Both rollers 11 and 12 are rotatably mounted upon the body 7 and are insulated therefrom by insulating bushings 13. An upstanding lug 14 is mounted upon the body 7, preferably integral therewith, and is adapted to retain one end of a spring 15. The other end of the said spring is held in operative position by means of a suitable retaining element 16 positioned upon the bracket 9. The normal position of the duplex shoe 6 is vertical, and the same is resiliently held in that position by means of the spring 15 and the relative positioning of the elements 14 and 16. It is obvious that when the lower contacting roller 12 is displaced from the vertical position, that is, when the body portion 7 is displaced, due to the contacting of the roller 12 upon the low third rail 5, the spring 15 will be tensioned and friction between the surface of the roller 12 and the rail 5 is increased.

1 do not wish to be limited to the precise disclosure made in the drawings, for example, a leaf spring tensioning means may be used; the elements 11 and 12 may be stationary instead of rotatable; and other equivalent structure may be used. Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the generator 2 is connected on one side to the mover 1, or (schematically) to the ground rail 3, the high or positive side is connected to the lower roller 12 of the duplex shoe 6. The connection is made through a solenoid 17, the function of which will hereinafter be more fully described, The current from the generator is then transmitted to the low third rail 5.

A crossing is designated generally at 18, and positioned on each side of the same, and disposed diagonally opposite each other is a gate post 19 supporting gates 20. The low third rail 5 is preferably broken at the crossing 18 and continued on the opposite side thereof, inasmuch as the rail 18 would serve as an obstruction to highway traffic if ccntinued across the road. The two severed sections of the rail 18 are connected electrically by a cable 21 .buried under the highway.

Referring particularly to Figures 3 and 4, sectional views of a post 19 are shown, and contained within the same is a motor 22, having mounted upon its armature shaft a worm 23. This worm may be adapted to mesh with a worm gear 24 loosely mounted upon a shaft 25. This worm gear 24 is the instrumentality through which the gates 2O are automatically lowered, the operation of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

The arrangement is such that current flowing through the rail 5 passes through the motor 22, as shown schematically in Fig. 2 to drive the worm 23 and the cooperating gear 24. Simultaneously, magnetic coils 26 will be energized, the coils 26 and the motor 22 being connected in parallel. This causes an arm 27 pivoted at 28 to act against the tension of a coil spring 29 anchored to the wall of the housing 19. The opposite end of the pivoted arm 27 may ride in a flanged track 30 carried by shaft 25, which latter is also provided with a similar flanged track 31 adjacent the track 30. The outer ends of bell crank levers 32 pivoted at 33 are adapted to ride in the tracks 31, the opposite ends of these levers being provided with the pins 34. The bell crank levers 32 are pivoted intermediate their length at 35 on the surface of a flange 36 forming part of a sleeve 37 which latter is keyed to shaft 25. The shaft 25 is journaled in bearings in the housing 19 and on one end projecting outside of the housing has fiXedly connected thereto a gate or crossing guard 20.

The arrangement is such thatthe energizing of the magnetic coils 26 attracts an end of the arm 27, which rocking on its pivot 28, causes the other end to force the flanged tracks 30 and 31, which are loosely mounted on the shaft 25 outwardly. The ends of the levers 32 riding in the flanged track 31 will be moved outwardly and, rocking on the pivot CFI 35, will move the pins 34into engagement with recesses in the face of the worm gear 24, thus rotation of the worm gear 24 by the motor 22 will be transmitted to the shaft 25, which rotation will lower the gates 20.

As another feature o f the present invention, after the gates have been lowered to a predetermined position, for instance, at a point substantially parallel with the ground, mechanism is provided for automatically7 preventing further downward movement of said gate, as is fully described in the Patent No. 1,692,184, and which comprises a switch 38 connected in series with the motor 22. The character of the switch 38 in general is that upon one-quarter of a revolution of the gate shaft 25 a member 39 carried by the shaft 25 throws a resilient knife element 40 out of contact with the terminals 41 and 42, thus breaking the motor circuit but not altering the circuit of the coil 26. Hence, it is apparent that while the arm 27 is in contact with the poles of the solenoids 26 the gates will be held in a horizontal position. Upon the breaking of contact of the roller 12 and the rail 5 the solenoids 26 are de-energized, the spring 29 acts and the pins 34 disengage from the recesses in the worm gear 24, and upon the action of counter weight 43, shown best in Fig. 1, the gates rise.

Upon the mover 1 traveling further away from the crossing, for instance a mile more or less, another auxiliaryrail 44 will be encountered, hereinafter designated the high third rail. rThe construction of this rail 44 is such that the upper roller 11 of the duplex shoe 6 will ride on the under side of the same, thus completing the circuit of the generator, coil 45, the shoe 11 and the high rail 44.

Referring again to Figs. 3 and 4, a bifurcated spring contact 46 is mounted upon the inner side of the casing 19, adjacent the worm gear 24. Rigidly mounted upon the sleeve 37 and rotatable therewith is a switch blade 47, which is adapted to make contact with the bifurcated member 46. The relative position of the blade 47 and the member 46 is such that when the gates are in raised position, the aforementioned contact will be made. rlhe members 46 and 47 are designated schematically in Fig. 2 as switch 48. Thus it can be readily seen that when the gates are in raised position the switch 48 is closed completing the circuit between the high third rail 44 and the ground. Suitable connections I are made between the low rail 5 and the solenoids 26 and motor 22, and between the high third rail 44 and the switch 48, the other side of all the circuits being grounded to the ground rail 3.

The solenoids referred to in the schematic Fig. 2 as 17 and 45 are mounted within a casing 49, shown best in Figs. 6 and 7. The coils 17 and 45 are preferably mounted in the lower portion of the said casing with their aXes opposed to each other. Slidably positioned inthe cores of both of the solenoids is a plunger 50, preferably constructed cylindrical in shape and of a magnetic material such as steel, iron or the like. A pin 52 is positioned transversely at the center of the plunger 50, and is adapted to be positioned in an elongated opening 51 in each of the bifurcated arms 53 of the end of a lever 54. The said arm is pivotally mounted in the casing 49, the said pivotal mounting comprising a rod 55, upon'which the arm 54 is rigidly mounted, the ends of the said rod being journaled in bearings 56 mounted upon the inner faces of the casing.

Adjoining the casing 49 1s a second casing 57 and contained within the same is a conventional clock-work mechanism 58. The main shaft 59 of the said mechanism extends through the wall of the casing 49 and-has rigidly mounted thereon, a gear 63 which meshes with another gear (not shown) mounted on the shaft 61. A drum 60 having numerals from 1 to 12 indicated on its periphery, a construction common in time recording machines, is mounted on the shaft 61. This drum 60, as is obvious is the hour drum which corresponds to the hour hand on theusual clock. A second drum 62 is mounted adjacent the drum 60 and has numerals upon its periphery from 1 to 60, and is the minute drum. The gearing means for actuating the minute drum is not shown, as the construct-ion is old in the clock and time recording art. .A similar set of drums are provided on each side of the vertical axis of the device as a whole, and as will hereinafter be more fully described, the device as a whole is symmetrical about its said vertical axis.

A pair of feed rollers 64 and 64 are respectively rotatably mounted on each side of the inner lwall of the casing 49 and at the top thereof. These members comprise rolls of paper 65 and 65, the paper adapted to be threaded over a plurality of pairs of guide rollers 66, 66', 67 and 67. The two sets of time recording drums are indicated by the reference numerals 68 and 68 respectively, contiguous with the periphery of which the paper strips 65 and 65 are adapted to be threaded. The strips 65 and 65 are adapted to be taken up below the drums 68 and 68 by a pair of take-uprollers 69 and 69.

' The rollers 69 and 69 are rotatably mountn ed respectively upon one end of a pair of bell crank levers 70 and 76', pivoted to the housing 49 at their central portions 71 and 71. The other ends ofthe levers 70 and 70 are acted upon by a pair of springs 72 and 72 which tend to exert a downward thrust upon the rollers 69 and 69. Positioned immediately below the rollers 69 and 69 1s a pair of drive rollers 73 and 73 respectively, and rigidly mounted upon and rotatably therewith is a pair of ratchets 74 and 74',

and loosely mounted upon the shafts 75 and 7 5 which connect the rollers 73 and 73 to the ratchets 74 and 74 respectively, is a pair of pinions 76 and 7 6. Pawls 77 and 77 are mounted upon the pinions 76 and 76 and are adapted to cooperate with the said ratchets by means of suitable springs (not shown). It is apparent from the above description that the rollers 73 and 73 will move upon the application of a rotative force applied to the pinions 76 and 76 in one direction, but will not move in the other direction. Also that these operative directions are opposite for both rollers 73 and 73. Further, that on rotating the rollers 73 and 73, the rictionalengagement of the peripheries of the rollers 73 and 69 and 73 and 69, due to the impelling action of the springs 72 and 72, will result in the motion of the rollers 69 and 69, and hence motion of the paper strips past the drums 68 and 68.

Reverting to the arm 54: Mounted thereon and upon the pivot rod 55 and rotatable therewith is a double arcuate rack 78, the teeth of the said rack formed at each of its arced peripheries being adapted to engage the pinions 76 and 76 respectively. The upper portion oi" the arm 54 is provided with a resilient continuation 79, andin turn,

y mounted upon the upper end of the member 79 is a hammerslike head 80.

In operation, referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 6, as the mover 1 comes within the predetermined distance of the crossf ing and hence the lower roller l2 of the shoe 6 comes in contact with the low third rail 5, the switch 38 being closed, the gate motors operate, and the gates close, due to the clutch mechanism, above described being actuated by the solenoid 26. When the gates reach a predetermined path in their travel, the switch 38 is opened, but the solenoid 26 still remains in circuit, thereby effectively holding the gates in lowered position.

In addition, it can be seen that the solenoid 17 is also in circuit and hence is energized. Upon the energizing oi the coil 17 the plunger 50 is drawn inwardly, thereby rocking the arm 54, and causing the ham- *T mer head 8O to stamp the impressions on the periphery of the drums 60 and 62 upon the strip 65 and hence recording upon the paper 65 the time at which the solenoid 17 was actuated, or the time at which the gates 20 were closed. The housing 49 may be enclosed by a suitable cover 81 in which a pair of windows or the like 82 is provided preferably in alignment with the points of contact of the drums, the drums 68 and 68 and the paper strips 65 and 65. In addition, the face of the head 8O may be provided with some arbitrary indications such as C and O, designating that when the solenoid 17 is actuated, that is, when the gates are closed, the letter C may be seen through the window 82 informing the engineer that the gates are closed, in addition, to making a permanent record of the time of closing as hereinbefore described.

In order that the circuit is not broken when the shoe 6 leaves the first section of the low third rail at the highway crossing, a second shoe 83 may be mounted preferably on the rear portion of the tender, the contacting element of which is connected in parallel with the lower roller 12. The width of the ordinary highway is usually less than the span of the locomotive and tender. Hence the gates closed circuit will not be broken when the mover 1 passes the highway. It is to be understood that the auxiliary shoe 83 may be attached to any portion of the train by the provision of suitable connections.

When the shoe 6 leaves the low third rail 5, that is, at a predetermined distance beyond the crossing, the circuit, shown in full lines in Fig. 2 is broken, the solenoid 26 deenergized and the gates 2O acting under the impulse of the weights 43 will rise. Upon rising, the switch 48, which incidentally was open while the gat/es were closed, as here` inbei'ore described, is closed. At a predetermined distance beyond theend of the low third rail 5, the upper roller 11 of the shoe 6 contacts the lower side of the high third rail 44, completing the circuit shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This secondary circuit includes the solenoid 45 which is energized pulling the plunger away from the coil 17 causing the head 8O to stamp the drums and 62, indicating on the paper the time at which the operation occurs. At the same time the roller 73 is rotated through the agency of the ratchet 74 and pawl 77, thus moving the roller 69 and hence the paper 65, providing a clean portion of the paper to receive the record of the next crossing encountered. The action of the ratchet 74 and pawl 77 is similar when the gates closed77 record is made. In addition, by means orn the window 82, the engineer has a visual indication that the gates have closed properly. It is to be understood that wherever the term indicating is used, it is intended to mean both recording and indieating.

It is apparent that herein is provided a device which will be extremely useful, both in the saving of life by eliminating the human equation involved in lowering the crossing gates, and in keeping an accurate check on the gate closing and opening data. A device it applied would eliminate uncertainty and injustice in many lawsuits, inasmuch as an infallible record of the operation of the gates could be brought into court and displayed.

I am aware that many modifications oi' this invention may be constructed without departing from the spirit of the invention,

and I do not wish to be limited therein, eX- cept as necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

l. In combination with a railway crossing signal actuated by mechanism operated by the approach and departure of a train, of means carried by the train for positively indicating after the train has passed a crossing that the signal has been rendered inoperative comprising` an electrically operated indicator carried by the train, means remotely disposed from said crossing and electrically connecting said signal mechanism and the indicator, said connection being completed when said signal is rendered inoperative.

2. In combination with a railway crossing guard lowered and raised by mechanism set in motion by the approach and departure of a train, of means carried by the train for indicating after the train has passed the crossing that the guard has been restored to raised position, comprising an electrically operated indicator carried by the train, means remotely disposed from said crossing and electrically connecting said guard mechanism and the indicator, said connectionsV being completed when said crossing guard is raised.

3. In combination, with a railway crossing signal actuated by mechanism operated by the approach and departure of a train, of means carried by the train Jfor positively indicating when the signal becomes inoperative comprising an indicator carried by the train, means remote Jfrom the crossing for operatively connecting the indicator and crossing signal, and means for positively indicating when the signal becomes inoperative after the train has passed the crossing, comprising means remotely disposed from said crossing for connecting said signal and said indicator, said latter means being rendered operative when said signal is rendered inoperative.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signature.

FRANK P. MILLER. 

